Jennie Geisler: Canning nothing to be afraid of

Wednesday

Aug 9, 2017 at 10:11 AMAug 9, 2017 at 10:11 AM

Jennie Geisler More Content Now

I used to get all worked up before I started a canning project. I’d clear the day, read steps a hundred times, make 100 trips to the store, get all stressed out. Of course I was exhausted when I was finished, but that was at least half because I stressed myself out about it so much.

I didn’t think I could possibly do it without breeding some horrible strain of bacteria that would kill my whole family, and it just seemed like such an ordeal it’s a wonder I ever did it at all.

I’ve been doing it now 15 years. I don’t do the same thing every year, but every year I do something. I don’t get half as stressed out as I used to. I guess that’s from experience, but I’d also like to tell beginners you don’t have to be a stress ball about it like I was, or even look at it as some kind of alien thing that only great-grandmothers and Martha Stewart wannabes do anymore.

It’s a simple process, really, with wonderful rewards: Jars and jars of summer goodness stacked and stored against the winter chill. Or just use the stuff now. Two of these recipes could do with a few weeks of ripening, but after that, bring them along to visit family members or friends, to just cheer someone up. (Hint: McDonald’s sells biscuits all day long. Bring a jar of Blueberry Lemon Jam, stop and get half a dozen on your way there. Hide the bag. I won’t tell.)

Five things I learned:1. OK, so I probably shouldn’t have been quite as cocky as I was with the Peach Jam, but don’t worry. This has a happy ending. I’m not entirely sure why I completely ignored the instructions, and just tossed everything in the pot and started cooking. Maybe I was tired or distracted by another dish.

But at any rate, instead of stirring the peaches, lemon juice and pectin, then bringing it to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, and then adding the sugar, I put the sugar in there at the beginning and cooked it all together and then noticed what I did and panicked for about five seconds and then just decided to see what would happen.

Nothing happened. Well, nothing bad happened. The jam turned into jam and tastes yummy and spreads nicely and everybody went home happy.

2. The key to making these two jams, Blueberry-Lemon and Peach, as in many jams, is a substance called “pectin.” Pectin is a kind of fiber that glues plant cells together. It increases in fruits as they ripen, causing fruit to soften, and peaks in just-ripe fruit. Incidentally, pectin starts to break down to acid in overripe fruit.

Both blueberries and peaches are low-pectin fruits, so making properly gummy jams with them requires adding pectin. When you add the pectin to the fruit and lemon juice in these recipes, as the liquid boils, the pectin molecules get a negative charge and repel each other. Adding the sugar brings them back together, and then you have the chemical matrix that makes jam possible.

But just because I got away with cooking everything together doesn’t mean I recommend it. It’s best, especially when canning, to follow instructions. Your finished product — and your health — depend on specific chemical reactions to happen the right way.

3. So naturally, I ignored the instructions for the Blueberry-Lemon Jam as well. But I’m blaming this one on the book. The ingredients list called for four cups of blueberries. The instructions read, “Lightly crush the blueberries with a spoon (just enough to split the skins).” Well, OK. I did that. Then it said to “Measure 2½ cups of the crushed blueberries into a ...” With no mention of the remaining blueberries anywhere in the rest of the text.

I went ahead and added the rest of the blueberries to the mix before canning the jam, and then sent a note to the book’s promoter asking about the remaining blueberries. I was told that there shouldn’t be any more blueberries, that, once crushed, those four cups should become 2½ cups. I don’t think that was clear.

At any rate, you can use all the blueberries.

4. I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. In most cooking situations, when a recipe calls for lemon juice, freshly squeezed juice is preferable to bottled. However, when canning, it’s important that the acidity of the lemon juice be consistent to prevent bacterial growth. The only way to get that is by using bottled juice. So, save your lemon-squeezing muscles for your lemonade.

5. I did pickles last year, and I was reasonably happy with the taste, but not so much the texture. This is a new recipe and it takes three weeks to get to peak flavor, and I haven’t had enough time to taste them yet. One thing I do want to warn you about is using pickling salt rather than table salt. Pickling salt is free of anti-caking agents, which might make your pickle liquid cloudy, or contain iodine, which can discolor the pickles. Also, the recipe is good for pickling several vegetables, not just cucumbers, so if you like pickled stuff, pick a peck.

Stir together the peaches and the lemon juice in a 6-quart stainless-steel or enameled Dutch oven. Stir in the pectin. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim the foam if necessary.

Ladle the hot jam into a hot jar, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rim. Center the lid on the jar. Apply the band and adjust to fingertip tight. Place the jar in the boiling water canner. Repeat until all the jars are filled.

Low Sugar recipeAdd 2/3 cup unsweetened fruit juice or water to the peaches and lemon juice, substituting 3 tablespoons Ball Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin for the Classic Pectin. Reduce the sugar to 1 cup. This jam will have a looser set than the full-sugar version, but just as much fresh fruit flavor.

Rinse the blueberries under cold running water, drain. Lightly crush the blueberries with a spoon (just enough to split the skins). Measure 2½ cups of the crushed blueberries into a a 6-quart stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven.

Add the sugar and next 2 ingredients. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

Ladle the hot jam into a hot jar, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rim. Center the lid on the jar. Apply the band, and adjust to fingertip-tight. Place the jar in the boiling water canner. Repeat until all the jars are filled.

Process the jars 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat; remove the lid, and let the jars stand 5 minutes. Remove the jars and cool.

Bring the vinegar and next 7 ingredients to a boil in a small stainless-steel or enameled saucepan; reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt.

Tightly pack the vegetables to cover. Cover the jar with the lid; let stand 1 hour or until cooled to room temperature. Store in refrigerator for 3 weeks for best flavor; consume within 3 months. (The longer the pickles stand in the refrigerator, the more flavorful they will become.)

Nutrition information difficult to determine based on how much liquid absorbed.